Recently, the New York Times published an article speaking on the situation of transgender and gender non-conforming erasure. The article said that “The Trump administration is considering narrowly defining gender as a biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth, the most drastic move yet in a governmentwide effort to roll back recognition and protections of transgender people under federal civil rights law.”

Many transgender and gender non-conforming people feel as though they are already harassed by people around them and are now are being targeted by the government. Although transgender, gender non-conforming and allies are taking to the streets, the biggest location that need people to be to make change is at the voting polls.

In California and other progressive states, there has been a big push for voting the people who are hurting minorities out of office. Through Instagram, libraries, celebrities and more, people over the age of eighteen have been urged to register to vote and to show up the polls on November 6th. Not only have people eighteen and older been told to register, but people sixteen and younger have been urged to pre-register, so that as soon as they are eighteen, they can vote.

Many people have noticed the lack of representation in elected office of the people being affected by these changes. There are not many transgender and gender non-conforming candidates running in elections. People often feel as though it is because of fear of bigots that they do not run. Arabesque Lynaolu, a student and activist, finds this to be truly troubling.

“I feel that if transgender or non-conforming candidates were to run, that they would have to be careful, but I do think that it is important for them to run because it would give visibility.”

If we look back at this election there have been countless news articles, polls, and studies that have explained how voters younger than 35 believe Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are two extreme versions of corruption, bigotry, and status quo. However, it is still important for millennials to vote because there are many local races and propositions that will affect our everyday lives. There are exactly seventeen measures that have been placed before California voters this election cycle. For the majority of millennials, we won’t even have a clear understanding of the ballot come Election Day because we are blinded by this Presidential chaos. Some of these propositions are amazing, ridiculous, crucial, while others are deceptive. All are important to consider, as always because all elections matter.

Let’s just look at three propositions that I find to be some of the most important.

First, Prop 64. “Marijuana Legalization”: The legal age for usage would be 21. Restrictions are similar to that of alcohol and tobacco usage. Sales would of course be taxed heavily. Some exemptions in the tax are present for medical marijuana usage but we already have it legal in California. What’s interesting is that the tax is not going to the state general fund, but rather into prevention and cleanup programs related to marijuana usage. According to voterguide.org, after the regulatory agency takes what it needs to fund itself, the taxes would go 60% to youth programs, including substance use disorder education, prevention, and treatment to clean up and prevent environmental damage from illegal growing. It will also create programs designed to reduce DUI and a grant program to reduce impacts on public health and safety from this measure. It would reduce sentences for marijuana-related crimes. So people currently incarcerated for many marijuana offenses could have their sentences reduced or overturned, and there would be thousands of fewer arrests in the future. I think legalizing marijuana is important, to help end a lot of unnecessary harassment from police authorities so I will vote Yes on Prop 64.

Second, Prop 55. “Tax Extension to Fund Education and Healthcare”: Would extend the Prop 30 raise taxes on the rich to help fund education and healthcare. I’m not affected by this, except in the positive to have more healthcare and education funding. And neither is anyone else earning less than $250,000. This is not a tax increase; the tax increase already was approved. Failure to approve this would be a benefit to the rich, and a loss of funding to education and healthcare. So clearly I will be voting Yes on Prop 55.

Lastly, Prop 63. “Firearms and Ammunition Sales”: This bill regulates ammunition similar to the firearms that use them. This will require dealers to have licenses, buyers to prove they are allowed to purchase it, and provides a ban on firearms with high-capacity magazines. It also changes reporting requirements for stolen ammunition and/or firearms, and increases the penalty for theft of firearms to a felony. It’s actually a very complicated measure with a lot of minor changes being made to firearm laws. All I know for sure is that it aims to reduce gun violence in our state. I am voting YES.

So no matter how you may feel about the Presidential Election still vote for who you think is the best person. Don’t forget that there are still more major issues that can affect you directly in your community. Make sure you study your voter’s pamphlet or research online.

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek”. – Barack Obama

During this election year, the subject of refugees has been brought up many times. But does the average American know what the life of refugees in this country is actually like? This video intends to shed some light on the subject.

On Thursday, the 30th of March, the NAACP Youth Council, State Black Student Union organizations, and Sacramento State National Pan Hellenic Council held an event at Sol Collective in Sacramento. The event also featured Mayoral candidates so they could explain who they are and what their intentions would should they become Mayor of Sacramento.

The event was open to the public so anyone in Sacramento could participate. There were many seats but was quickly overfilled as time went on, leaving many people having to stand in order to hear the candidates. The public also had the opportunity to ask questions after each of the of candidates explained themselves.

The candidates each had a preview of the questions going to be asked before going on stage in front of the public. The event was meant to help people get a better understanding of the political system in Sacramento and give the public an idea of who is running and who should be the next Mayor of Sacramento.

Although many of the questions asked to the candidates were already pre-set, there were many people in the audience who raised their hand to ask the questions that they thought needed to be asked. People would often raise their hand and interrupt to ask a question about something the candidates just said.

“I grew up on Meadowview. I know what it’s like growing up in the tough area. We can’t have any more children growing up in an environment like that. That would be on of my top priorities,” said Tony Lopez, a Mayoral candidate, while answering a question from the audience.

With the upcoming election coming to California, it is important to consider what impact that the youth can make. In this video, I interview area youth to see what they think of the election and how they feel about youth voting.

The event features a moderated discussion with candidates Council Member Angelique Ashby and former California State Senator Darrell Steinberg in front of Metro Chamber members and partner organizations.

The moderator will be Kevin Riggs, Senior Vice President from Randle Communications in Sacramento and former Capitol Reporter for KCRA NewsChannel 3. Questioning by the audience will not be allowed; questions were collected for the moderator during the RSVP process.

The Sacramento Metro Chamber is asking for media with technology planning to cover the event to be in place by 5:30 p.m. An XLR audio feed and an HD SDI video feed will be available on site.

Coverage of community and cultural arts events in Sacramento County are provided under Access Sacramento Hometown TV grant and are paid for in part from funding by the Sacramento Metropolitan Cable Television Commission. Applications for coverage are available at AccessSacramento.org.

Martin joined Access Sacramento July 1, 2013 replacing retiring Executive Director Ron Cooper, who previously also represented Access Sacramento on the ACM-West board, serving as the group’s treasurer. The elected post runs for two years.

In welcoming five newly elected board members, ACM-West Board Chair J Robertson said, “They bring great skills, experience and passion to our efforts to protect and preserve the local voice in media.

“It’s going to be a pleasure to continue to work with such exceptional professionals dedicated to building our communities.”

The Alliance for Community Media promotes free speech, civic engagement and hyper-local news through ever expanding community media. The Board of Directors for the West Region also advises on public policy, technology and communication.

The ACM-West region represents public, educational and government access cable channels in six western states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico.

Since high school, I have been waiting for the day that I would be able to vote. During the 2008 election, I watched as the results were displayed on almost every channel. Our school held a mock election to demonstrate the process of voting. During my senior year, I participated in another mock election in my government class. We used the actual polling booths set up at the school.

But those were not the real thing. My vote did not go towards the actual election. When I turned eighteen in 2010, there were both city and statewide elections taking place while I was residing in Houston, Texas. However, I didn’t know what issues were being decided on. I couldn’t register to vote because I was in school and didn’t have a permanent address. I didn’t vote in that election. Since then, I’ve anxiously awaited for this year’s presidential election.

The voter registration process was easy. It only took me a few minutes to register online and a couple weeks to get my voter information in the mail. I easily located my polling place as well. Finally, I was registered and ready to vote.

On election day, I went to my polling place with my younger sister, who was also voting for the first time, and waited in a short line. When it was my turn the poll workers politely greeted me, found my name on the list and handed me my ballot. They were also very excited that I was a first time voter.

The ballot was several pages long but it only took about five minutes to get through it all. I took my time to make sure everything was bubbled correctly. I finished and with the help of another poll worker, I put my ballot into the machine. She handed me my “I voted” sticker and I proudly put it on my shirt. All of the poll workers thanked me for voting and sent me on my way out.

“Don’t vote, don’t complain,” my mother would always say. Today, I exercised my right to vote. This experience showed me just how painless it is to vote. Voting is an essential part of our democratic government. I look forward to voting in all future elections.